Artist’s rendering of the future Arctic Security Cutter to be build by Davie Defense Inc. (Davie Defense Inc.)
SAN DIEGO — Texas shipbuilder Davie Defense Inc. has been awarded a $3.5 billion contract by the U.S. Coast Guard to construct five icebreaking Arctic Security Cutters, the service’s commandant said Wednesday.
“Accelerating construction of these cutters will enable the Coast Guard to defend our northern border and approaches, while strengthening domestic shipbuilding and reinforcing the nation’s industrial base,” Adm. Kevin E. Lunday, commandant of the Coast Guard, said in a statement.
Lunday and other top Coast Guard officials are speaking this week at West 2026, a defense industry conference in San Diego.
Davie Defense will build three of the cutters in Texas and two in Finland under the contract. The United States and Finland signed a “memo of understanding” in December 2025 to pool design and shipyards on the project.
The five cutters will bring the total orders for the new ships to 11, with the first planned to be delivered in 2028.
The new commitment follows a $2.1 billion contract to Bollinger Shipyards for four cutters and $1.1 billion to Rauma Marine Constructions in Finland for two cutters, according to the Coast Guard
The new cutters would significantly increase the Coast Guard’s icebreaking capability. It currently operates three icebreakers. USCGC Polar Star was commissioned in 1976, and the USCGC Healy was commissioned in 1999. The Coast Guard purchased a commercial icebreaker in December 2024 and retrofitted it for Coast Guard service. The ship, named USCGC Storis, was commissioned in August 2025.
